4 V AbOut this resOurce

About this ResourceAll of the activities presented in this book can be taught to students of all ages. For the most part, I’ve organized them from easy to complex in terms of concepts: dance, music, and physical education. It is best to think of teaching these dances with your students’ background experience in mind. It is ideal—both in terms of comfort and skill—to begin with the easier dances, and then progress to the more complex, building a spiral of knowl-edge and experience.

The lessons are presented in the following format:

Objectives—state the desired outcomeTo Teach—outlines suggested steps for teaching the danceStep It Up!—suggestions for increasing the level of difficultyTie It Together—highlights ways the dance can incorporate

other curriculumConcepts and Standards—Dance, Music, and Physical Education

based on National Standards for each area of study

Throughout the book, you will see this icon which highlights actual phrases and tips and tricks that I use in my instruction. I hope that these tips assist you in your instruction.

Reproducible lyric pages are available for each of the songs, and can be found starting on page 27.

Lists of the National Standards for Dance, Physical, and Music Education can be found on page 35.

About the CD and DVD

Each dance activity includes two audio tracks: a vocal track and an instru-mental track. The vocal tracks (#1–10) have voice prompts for the dance, while the instrumental tracks (#11–18) are just the instruments. Feel free to use the instrumental tracks for other purposes beyond Step on the Beat.

The dvd is designed for instructional purposes. It will help you choose age-appropriate versions and practice the script and sequence before teach-ing your students for the first time. Each dance has its own menu where you can select the parts of the dance you would like to review. In some cases, it might be beneficial to show your students clips from the dvd, but for the most part it is designed solely for the instructor’s eyes. The menu options for each dance are included in the following lessons. Don’t forget about the valuable classroom management strategies located in the “Tips and Tricks” section.

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Apples And OrAnges V 5

Apples and OrangesObjectives

V To work successfully with a group, partner, or setV To use and understand self‐ and general‐spaceV To learn and use basic elements of folk dance

To Teach

For beginners or young students, teach this dance as an ABAB circle dance. Watch “Simple Circle” on the dvd for a complete demonstration.

1. Begin with the students standing in a circle. Teach the A section through demonstration: Slap thighs and clap hands. Repeat. Circle in one line of direction around the circle for 8 beats. Slap thighs and clap hands. Repeat. Circle in the same line of direction for 8 beats.

2. Teach the B section of the dance by modeling how to travel away and back, while all students watch and clap the pulse. This section lasts for 32 beats, so dancers should move away for approximately 16 beats, and then dance back home for 16 beats. Young dancers may not be able to skip or side-slide, but they can all dance! The main objective is for the children to be able to travel through the general space safely and rhythmically. The sec-ondary objective is for them to be able to time their movement so as to be back in their original starting place in the circle at the end of the B section.

3. Determine who will be the “apples” and who will be the “oranges.” Divide the students in any way you wish so that the group is divided in half.

Kate says ➲ Take a moment to see who is on either side of you in the circle, so you can find your way back home.

4. Instruct the apples to dance away and back home, while you and the rest of the class keep the steady beat by bouncing your knees, clapping, and/or singing the lyrics. You may wish to model appropriate locomotor choices and when to come back home. The lyric “come back home” implies slowing and using body control to find one’s place in the circle again.

5. Repeat the A section, this time traveling in the opposite line of direction when you circle.

6. At the B section, allow the oranges to practice moving away and back to the group.

Kate says ➲ Move into the empty spaces so you don’t get hurt!

A circle, partner, or group dance with variations from beginner to advanced

C D T R A C K Sl Vocall Instrumental

D V D O P T I O N S• Simple Circle • Intermediate Circle • Simple Partners • Partners in Sets • Contra Dance Version

Note: The dvd demonstrates two circle variations, two partner variations, partners in sets of four, and a contra dance version for groups.

L Y R I C S See page 27

111

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6 V Apples And OrAnges

7. Perform the dance with the vocal cd track.

Step It Up!

Teach this as an easy ABAB partner dance. Watch “Simple Partners” on the dvd for a complete demonstration.

1. Instruct the students to face a partner in scattered space.

2. Teach the A section:

Slap thighs two times, in rhythm. Clap hands two times, in rhythm.Keeping your eyes on your partner, pass right shoulders, and circle around each other in a clockwise line of direction. This is a contra dance move called “gypsy.”Slap thighs two times, in rhythm. Clap hands two times, in rhythm.Keeping your eyes on your partner, pass left shoulders and “gypsy” with your partner in a counterclockwise line of direction.

3. Teach the B section by having the apples dance away and back, while the oranges clap the steady beat and keep the pulse in their bodies.

4. Repeat the A section and then the B section, having the oranges dance away and back, while the apples clap and feel the steady beat.

5. Perform with the vocal cd track.

Step It Up! (more)

Teach this as a challenging partner dance in sets of four. Use the instru-mental track to accompany the dance. Watch “Partners in Sets” on the dvd for a complete demonstration.

1. Form sets of four, facing across to a partner and standing beside a corner. One pair is apples, the other is oranges.

2. Teach the A section:

Slap your thighs two times, in rhythm. Clap your partner’s hands two times in rhythm. Pivot to your corner, and slap your own thighs two times in rhythm. Clap your corner’s hands two times in rhythm.

Swing your corner, leading with right elbows.

Repeat the sequence. Start the slap/clap to your corner first, and then to your partner.

Swing your partner, leading with left elbows.

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Apples And OrAnges V 7

3. Teach the B section by modeling the following movement activity called Horse and Rider:

Partners stand so that one child is in front (horse), the other behind (rider). The horse reaches both hands back, with palms facing up. The rider places his hands palms down on the horse’s hands to connect. Together, they gallop smoothly through the space, 8 beats away and 8 beats back. When they get back home, the other pair gallops away and back.

Kate says ➲ Don’t spend all your time in one place.

4. During the repeat the other person in each pair is the horse.

Kate says ➲ Turn your belly button around.

Tie It Together

Create your own ABAB dance using the vocal or instrumental-only track, your creativity, and your knowledge of folk, world, and pattern-dance forms.

Concepts and Standards Addressed

da n c e m u s i c p h ys i c a l e d u c at i o n

PlaceDirectionPathwaysRhythm

National Standard: 1

Rhythm: steady beatForm: AB

National Standards: 6, 8

Space: self‐space, directions, levelsRelationships

National Standards: 1, 5

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